Jeff Loeffelholz had been a standby in the cast of Broadway’s Chicago for 22 years when he sadly took his own life late last month. Now the show’s director and musical director, Walter Bobbie and Leslie Stifelman, are being scrutinized for allegedly trying to harass him into quitting the show after more than two decades, rather than buying out the remainder of his contract.

According to notes written by Loeffelholz, there was one final uncomfortable rehearsal with Bobbie and Stifelman that may have crossed the line.

Loeffelholz worked as a standby for the part of Mary Sunshine, always ready to rush to the theater to fill in for any reason, sometimes in the middle of the show.

Friends of his have started a “Justice for Jeffrey” campaign that uses Loeffelholz’s notes to shine a light on what may have gone wrong.

They write: “For over 8,900 performances he was ready to go on at a moment’s notice, rush to the theater, and perform the role, sometimes midshow. Jeff was so dedicated to the show, that during the run he and his longtime partner, Peter De La Cruz, moved to be closer to the Ambassador. Jeff’s knowledge was integral to Chicago to the point that recently he was phoned and asked about the location of a prop for another actor’s rehearsal.”

Loeffelholz believed that the final rehearsal he attended was a thinly veiled attempt on the directors’ parts to push him out of the production, saving money.

According to Loeffelholz’s own handwritten notes after the rehearsal, he went upstairs where he greeted the dance captain with a hug and the usual pleasantries and when asked how he was, he replied he was great but he was “ready to rehearse.”

At that point [the stage manager] said he received a text from Bobbie saying he hadn’t slept all night and was running late. By now it was 1:15 and much of the cast had started to arrive. Bobbie finally arrived at 1:20 and after small talk with Stifelman and Hyslop he said to Loeffelholz, “I want to hear you sing,” adding that Loeffelholz was “never on” and he wanted to know why. Loeffelholz hadn’t performed the role since the last week of February.

Loeffelholz sang Mary Sunshine’s signature song, “A Little Bit of Good.” Silence from Bobbie until he said, “Again.” Loeffelholz sang it again. Bobbie then told Loeffelholz he should quit “overperforming it and being draggy” (i.e., like a drag queen), because “it is not a drag role. You need to be believable,” according to Loeffelholz’s notes.

Loeffelholz sang it again at which time Bobbie told him he couldn’t hear his lower register and he asked Loeffelholz for “more volume! I don’t believe what you’re telling me!”

Bobbie then said he was very disappointed and upset and stormed into the theater’s lobby at which point Stifelman took over the rehearsal instructing Loeffelholz to start in the middle of the song, adding “You always do it wrong.”

Loeffelholz sang it again. Bobbie entered the theater again and Stifelman repeated to him that Loeffelholz always does this part of the song incorrectly and could they do it again, according to Loeffelholz’s notes.

Loeffelholz sang it again after which Stifelman told him he was singing the wrong notes and that it was impossible for her to follow him when he performs the role.

Loeffelholz sang “A Little Bit of Good” for the sixth time. Stifelman alleged that Loeffelholz was “oversinging it and talking too much,” according to Loeffelholz’s own handwritten notes. Stifelman had Loeffelholz sing the middle part and told him he was singing the wrong lyrics. Loeffelholz’s notes simply state, “I was not.”

Stifelman then asked Bobbie if he wanted Loeffelholz to sing it again. Bobbie said no, adding, “We’ve wasted enough time.” Bobbie then said to bring in the rest of the cast and Loeffelholz approached him. “I walked up to Walter and he just stared at me,” his notes read. “I stared back and wanted him to say something.”

“I appreciate your loyalty,” Bobbie finally said to Loeffelholz, according to his notes. “But I am an actor too, and you have to respect the production.”

The New York Postreports the show’s producers have hired lawyers to navigate the allegations, and have already held an emergency cast meeting to discuss it.

RiBrad

Standby is the correct term here. An understudy is someone who has a smaller role in the show and covers a performer in a larger role. A standby is someone who is otherwise not in the show but is nearby and available to come and perform the role at a short notice. This seems a pedantic quibble anyway in the face of the larger story.

July 10, 2018 at 9:07pm

MacAdvisor

RiBrad, my dictionary disagrees with your restriction, but the Wikipedia article on understudy backs you up.
Yes, the issue is a quibble, but I think accuracy is important, particularly when the article may be the last concerning the person. I did not know Mr. Loeffelholz, nor ever see him perform. Still, the world is a lesser place because we lost him. The least we owe him, I suggest, is to honor what he was.

July 11, 2018 at 2:07pm

OzJosh

That he was a standby for TWENTY YEARS(!) is the most telling fact. This must surely be some kind of record. I wonder how many times – if ever – he actually performed the part in that time. Most actors I know would never allow themselves to get stuck in such a soul-destroying, mentally debilitating situation to start with.

July 11, 2018 at 6:07pm

RiBrad

This man’s suicide is tragic but it seems an overreach to lay it at the feet of a theatre director who spoke bluntly in a rehearsal room. We would all be offing ourselves if a few indelicate remarks in a workplace were all it took.

woodin

Chrisk

Tough but it’s their production and people have the right to move on as well.

July 11, 2018 at 12:07am

DCguy

@Chrisk Except they don’t have the right to try to harass people to quit so they don’t have to pay out their contracts.

July 11, 2018 at 10:07am

Chrisk

@DCguy. Allegedly since no where did I see them telling him not to come back. We’re only hearing from one side here. Someone not very stable mentally to begin with.

July 11, 2018 at 11:07am

DCguy

@Chrisk Except you’ve created a false condition. Harassment and attempting to pressure somebody out of a contract doesn’t mean they say “Don’t come back, it’s about making the environment hostile to drive the person out.

So first you said they had the right to do what they want…then you created a false narrative about harassment law. What’s your agenda?

July 12, 2018 at 1:07pm

tham

I really don’t understand.

How is this anything but a sad story about an actor who couldn’t let go of a production.

sfmike64

If you read the whole thing (you did read the whole thing, right?) then you’ll see that he was not the only cast member they were harassing. Other people have come forward with similar stories of harassment.

He had a run of the play contract and this play has been running for a LONG time, so he was probably expensive, Equity being what it is. Easier to make someone quit (in any job) than to buy them out. They took the cowardly way out. Because they were cheap (Americans love cheap shit).

sfmike64

Also, if you know the music from this show, and have ever sung an extremely difficult song, you know that singing this song 6 times in a row would be a horrifying thing to ask ANYONE to do.

It would be like asking someone to sing Bohemian Rhapsody 6 times in a row. Or Cio-Cio san’s death song from Madame Butterfly 6 times in a row.

July 11, 2018 at 2:07pm

mikeTigg

Completely agree with you sfmike64. Asking anyone to sing this song in high falsetto more than once is insane. See my post below. Weisslers are notorious for cheaping out.

July 11, 2018 at 7:07pm

paul dorian lord fredine

sad to hear he took his life but having been in the biz for so long he must have been used to hearing ‘no’ after auditions/try-outs. perhaps they may have been insensitive, sounds like they could have done a better job of explaining exactly what he was doing wrong and how they wanted his performance to be better/different but i really don’t see how they can be blamed for his death. imho there must have been something else going on in his life that made him take this action. and sfmike64, being asked to perform a song multiple times, no matter how difficult, is all a part of performing (or auditioning) in an ensemble production. to say it’s horrifying is a little overly dramatic.

mikeTigg

The producers of this show, Fran and Barry Weissler, are famous on Broadway for being notoriously cheap. On the 10th anniversary of the run, after making tens of millions at the box office, they celebrated the occasion by treating the cast to pizza.
The production as it is now is on its last seedy legs compared to what it was 20 years ago. Bobbie would definitely be a royalty shareholder in the profits of the production and therefore would have a vested interest in cutting costs. I would imagine that after 22 years Loeffelholz would be making more than minimum scale on his contract which would give cause to have him leave and replace him with an actor that would be hired at minimum scale pay.
Very sad and tawdry.